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Drink and drive: First motorway pub opens in the UK

Despite opposition, a new £1m pub has opened at a motorway service station on the M40.

Despite fierce criticism from road safety and alcohol campaigners, the first motorway pub has opened for business in the Extra Motorway Service Area at junction 2 of the M40 in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire.

Pub Chain JD Wetherspoon says The Hope & Champion, which cost £1m to build, will be open from 4am to 1am, seven days a week.

Meanwhile, critics are against the move as they believed that the location of the pub is “at odds” with public opinion. Based on a survey of 2,000 people conducted by RAC, , there were only 12per cent of respondents who supported putting pubs into motorway service stations.

The RAC's head of external affairs Pete Williams said: "The public appear to be very much against the introduction of motorway pubs.

"In our view this is a risky and frankly unnecessary move. The question we are struggling to answer is - of all the places to open a pub, why choose a motorway service station?

"The temptation to drink and drive can only be increased by easier access to alcohol.”

Another one to oppose the move is Sir Ian Gilmore, a Royal College of Physicians special adviser on alcohol and chair of the Alcohol Health Alliance, who said: "I am disappointed by the decision to open a JD Wetherspoon on the M40.

"We are trying to prevent harm from alcohol-related traffic accidents and this sends out completely the wrong message."